Italian PM Conte confirm from May 4 we'll start re-opening the country

Italian prime minster Giuseppe Conte has confirmed that Italy will begin phase two of the recovery process from the ongoing global Coronavirus pandemic at the start of next month.

In a press conference earlier on today, Conte has confirmed that he understands people are sick and tired of the measures currently in place and he would like to be able to re-open everything immediately but knows doing so would be irresponsible at this time.

Italy has been in lockdown for over a month now with almost the entire population stuck in their homes and only allowed to leave the house for absolute necessities such as groceries and medicines.

“From May 4 we will start with a national reopening program that takes into account the territorial peculiarities,” he started.

“Many citizens are tired of the measures and would like a significant easing of these measures, or even their complete abolition.

“I wish I could say we could re-open everything immediately and that we could start tomorrow morning. This government has however put the protection of citizens' health first. Such a decision would be irresponsible.

“It would make the contagion curve go up in an uncontrolled way and would nullify all the efforts we have made so far.

“At this stage we cannot afford to act by relying on improvisation. We cannot abandon the line of utmost caution, even in the perspective of restarting. We cannot rely on impromptu decisions to satisfy a part of public opinion or to satisfy the requests of some production sectors, individual companies or specific regions.

“The easing of the measures must take place on the basis of a well-structured and articulated plan. We have to reopen on the basis of a program that takes into account all the details and crosses all the data. A serious, scientific program. We can't afford to leave out any details.”

He then went on to confirm that the measures that have been in place have been successful and as a result other countries also impacted by the Coronavirus are looking toward the way Italy have dealt with the crisis situation.

“We have achieved important results, which other countries are studying. We must consolidate these results also in this new phase. This program must have a national footprint, because it must offer a reorganisation of the ways in which work performance is carried out, a rethinking of transport modes and new rules for commercial activities.”